---
title: "Geneva Study Bible -  Deuteronomy 20"
description: "20:1 When {a} thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses, and chariots, [and] a people more than thou, be not afraid of them: for th"
image: "/images/missing.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/geneva-study-bible/deuteronomy/20"
---

20:1 When {a} thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses, and chariots, [and] a people more than thou, be not afraid of them: for the LORD thy God [is] with thee, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
(a) Meaning, upon just occasion: for God does not permit his people to fight every time it seems good to them.

20:4 For the LORD your God [is] he that {b} goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.
(b) Is present to defend you with his grace and power.

20:5 And the officers shall speak unto the people, saying, What man [is there] that hath built a new house, and hath not {c} dedicated it? let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man dedicate it.
(c) For when they first entered to dwell in a house, they gave thanks to God, acknowledging that they had that benefit by his grace.

20:6 And what man [is he] that hath planted a vineyard, and hath not [yet] {d} eaten of it? let him [also] go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man eat of it.
(d) The Hebrew word signifies to make common or profane, [Leviticus 19:25](../../../kjv/leviticus/19/25)

20:11 And it shall be, if it make thee answer of {e} peace, and open unto thee, then it shall be, [that] all the people [that is] found therein shall be tributaries unto thee, and they shall serve thee.
(e) If it accept peace.

20:15 Thus shalt thou do unto all the cities [which are] very far off from thee, which [are] not of the cities of these {f} nations.
(f) For God had appointed the Canaanites to be destroyed, and made the Israelites the executers of his will, De 7:1.

20:19 When thou shalt besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof by forcing an axe against them: for thou mayest eat of them, and thou shalt not cut them down
(for the {g} tree of the field [is] man’s [life]) to employ [them] in the siege:
(g) Some read: For man shall be instead of the tree of the field, to come out in the siege against you.

```json
{"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com","name":"Real Bible Believers","description":"RBB","publisher":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/search?q={search_term_string}","query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/geneva-study-bible/deuteronomy/20#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/images/missing.jpg","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/images/missing.jpg","width":640,"height":370,"caption":"Geneva Study Bible -  Deuteronomy 20"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/geneva-study-bible/deuteronomy/20#webpage","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/geneva-study-bible/deuteronomy/20","name":"Geneva Study Bible -  Deuteronomy 20","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/geneva-study-bible/deuteronomy/20#primaryimage"},"datePublished":null,"dateModified":null,"author":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"description":"20:1 When {a} thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses, and chariots, [and] a people more than thou, be not afraid of them: for th","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/geneva-study-bible/deuteronomy/20#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/geneva-study-bible/deuteronomy/20"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/geneva-study-bible/deuteronomy/20#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","name":"Home"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries","name":"Commentaries"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/geneva-study-bible","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/geneva-study-bible","name":"Geneva Study Bible"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/geneva-study-bible/deuteronomy","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/geneva-study-bible/deuteronomy","name":"Deuteronomy"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/geneva-study-bible/deuteronomy/20","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/geneva-study-bible/deuteronomy/20","name":"20"}}]},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","width":512,"height":512},"logo":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo"},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/RBiblebeliever","https://www.facebook.com/RBibleBelievers"]}]}
```